Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Ethics > Conscience > Flashcards

Conscience Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 4 functions our conscience can have?

A

1.A sense of moral obligation or duty
2.A sense of guilt
3.An awareness of the difference between right and wrong
4.A guide

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Who believes that the conscience is “reason making right decisions”?

A

•Aquinas

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What 3 things does Aquinas believe the conscience consists of?

A

1.Synderesis
2.Ratio
3.Conscienta

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is synderesis?

A

•It is our natural inclination to do good and avoid evil
- It is an innate level of practical reason we all share

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is ratio?

A

•It is what tells us what is good or evil (use Bible, Church teachings and past experiences to help)
- It leads us to the principles of Natural Law
- It allows us to share in God’s nature due to reason ultimately coming from God

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is conscienta?

A

•It is the final stage where we apply the principles to a situation
- It guides us but also judges us by producing guilt

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What does Aquinas believe the conscience is “not”?

A

•He believes the conscience is “not a power but an act”
- This means it is not an ability we have but something that we do

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What does Aquinas believe about the conscience?

A

•He believes it is “knowledge applied to an individual case”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What do the 3 stages of the conscience do?

A

1.Acts as a witness
2.Judges our actions
3.Judges whether we have done the rights thing
- Aquinas believes these are all actions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What does Aquinas’ theory of the conscience uphold?

A

•It upholds absolute laws that apply to everyone

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What are the 2 main implications of Aquinas’ theory of the conscience?

A

1.The conscience cannot be used to justify breaking any moral absolutes
- This is because correct reason would tell us it’s evil and synderesis would prevent us from acting
2.The conscience can make mistakes as reason can cause us to see a mistaken goal if wrong
- This is “mistaken reason”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is an example of “mistaken reason”?

A

•An example is of a man that commits adultery because he followed a lesser good (lust) rather than God

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is vincibile ignorance?

A

•It is ignorance that could have been overcome
- This causes us to be morally blameworthy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is invincible ignorance?

A

•It is when we are in situations where we could not have known what we were doing was wrong
- This means we are not morally blameworthy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What does Aquinas believe the conscience is equivalent to?

A

•He believes it is equivalent to God’s Law

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What quote illustrates Aquinas’ belief that the conscience is equivalent to God’s Law?

A

•He states “when a reason which is in error proposes something as a command of God, then to dismiss the dictate of reason is just the same dismissing the command of God”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What supports Aquinas’ view that the conscience is linked with God?

A

•The Catechism of the Catholic Church
- It states that the conscience encourages people “to do good and avoid evil” while also acting as a “judgement of reason”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Who argues the conscience is more directly linked with God?

A

•Augustine
- He argues that we cannot know right and wrong through our own reason due to our reason being changeable and fallible while morality is unchangeable

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What is the conscience for Augustine?

A

•It is God’s truth impressed on our hearts like a ring impressed on wax

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Who argues that are natural inclinations are actually driven by our sexual desires?

A

•Freud

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Strengths of Aquinas’ theory of the conscience:

A

1.Important for Christians to have our morality linked with God
2.Displays how we are involved in the development of our conscience and how it is not just the voice of God within us
3.Vincible and Invincible Ignorance frees us from unnecessary guilt

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Weaknesses of Aquinas’ theory of the conscience:

A

1.Conscience is more directly linked with God
2.Outdated - established before psychology and behavioural sciences
3.Overly positive view of human nature

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Who believes that the conscience is a product of psychological factors and processes that affect they way we behave and the way we judge our own actions?

A

•Freud
- He argues that the conscience is caused by the psychological conflict between our most basic desires and the control imposed by society/our parents

24
Q

What are the 5 psychosexual development stages that Freud established?

A

1.Oral - birth
2.Anal
3.Phallic
4.Latency
5.Genital - puberty/adulthood

25
Q

What does successful completion of each psychosexual stage lead to?

A

•It leads a healthy personality
- If they are not completed successfully it can lead to fixations and an unhealthy personality

26
Q

What complex does Freud believes happen during the Phallic Stage?

A

•The Oedipus Complex

27
Q

What is the Oedipus Complex?

A

•All young boys develop a sexual desire for their mothers
•This causes them to fear their father will castrate them (causes castration anxiety)
•This conflict is resolved by the boy imitating the behaviours of his father which means he takes on the male gender role

28
Q

Who developed the Electra Complex?

A

•Jung

29
Q

What is the Electra Complex?

A

•Girls originally feel desire for their mothers
•However, they realise they do not have a penis so transfer the desire to their fathers (causes penis envy and resentment of mothers)
•Out of fear of losing their mothers’ affection they begin to identify and copy their mothers’ behaviour
•This represses the penis envy and replaces the desire for their father with a desire for a baby as they have taken on the female gender role

30
Q

What are the 2 main strengths of the psychosexual develop stages?

A

1.It highlights the importance of unconscious desires in our development as humans
2.It demonstrates the role that the conflict between our desires and society can have on our identity

31
Q

What 3 parts of the mind does Freud identify?

A

1.id
2.Ego
3.Super-ego

32
Q

What is the id?

A

•It is our unconscious desires
- They normally seek satisfaction in pleasure

33
Q

What is the ego?

A

•It mediates between our id and society

34
Q

What is the super-ego?

A

•It is what we mean when we talk about the conscience

35
Q

What levels of consciousness do the 3 parts of our mind operate at?

A

•The id is entirely unconscious which means it involves no rational thought
•The ego and super-ego operate at different levels of consciousness at different times
-However, the super-ego is largely unconscious

36
Q

What are the 3 different levels of consciousness?

A

1.Conscious
2.Pre-conscious
3.Unconscious

37
Q

What does Freud believe about our unconscious desires(the id)?

A

•He believes they are very powerful and have the potential to be very dangerous
- This is because they can lead to self-destructive behaviour as our unconscious desires are incompatible with survival in society

38
Q

How does Freud believe we control the id?

A

•He believes it can be controlled through the ego as the ego follows the reality principle which encourages delayed gratification rather than immediate

39
Q

What analogy does Freud use to support the ego controlling the id?

A

•He uses the analogy of a rider and her horse
- The ego is the rider as it is trying to guide the energy of the horse (id) in the right direction

40
Q

Which part of the conscience does Freud believe is the good part?

A

•The ego
- This is because it restrains our unconscious desires and ensures that we behave in a way that is compatible with society

41
Q

How does Freud describe the super-ego?

A

•He describes it as “a portion of the ego, which sets itself over against the rest of the ego”

42
Q

What caused the super-ego?

A

•The tension that results from the ego restraining the id

43
Q

What does the super-ego observe?

A

•It observes the decisions of the ego and “lays down definite standards for its conduct”

44
Q

What happens if the “definite standards” of the super-ego are not met?

A

•The ego is punished with feelings of inferiority and guilt

45
Q

What happens with the aggression the restrained id feels?

A

•The super-ego internalises the aggression and reflects it back upon ourselves
- This restricts our behaviour by banishing evil desires

46
Q

What causes feelings of guilt?

A

•When our desires are too strong to be controlled
- This causes the super-ego to punish us with powerful feelings of guilt

47
Q

What things do we feel most guilt over?

A

•Aggression and sex

48
Q

What is the development of the super-ego closely linked with?

A

•The Oedipus Complex
- This is because the boy internalises his dad’s values and takes on the male gender role

49
Q

In what way is Freud’s theory of the conscience positive?

A

•It enables us to control our instincts and survive in society
- This is because we could die if our id is not restrained due to it possibly resulting in extreme anti-social behaviour

50
Q

In what way is Freud’s theory of the conscience negative?

A

•It can cause unnecessary suffering as we can feel extreme and needless guilt for normal sexual desires and activities that do not need to be prevented
- This is especially true when someone has a repressive upbringing

51
Q

What can extreme guilt cause?

A

•It can cause neurosis of religion
- Freud believes this needs to be treated if humans are to develop

52
Q

Strengths of Freud’s theory of the conscience:

A

1.Understanding the role the unconscious is important
2.Highlights the impact of parents and society
3.Theory that conscience develops alongside childhood is supported by other scholars

53
Q

Weaknesses of Freud’s theory of the conscience:

A

1.Freud’s theory of psychosexual development has been discredited due to his limited evidence base
2.There are more recent psychological explanations for the conscience
3.Freud’s theory of the conscience is not linked with God

54
Q

Who supports Freud’s theory that the conscience develops alongside the stages of child development?

A

•Piaget
- However, the stages he recognises are different from Freud’s

55
Q

Who argues that with a more mature conscience we could have more freedom than Freud suggested to shape our conscience ourselves?

A

•Fromm
- He believes Freud’s description of the super-ego is an example of an immature conscience and argues that we can develop a more mature conscience in which we question the values of society (which we have internalised in the super-ego)

56
Q

Who argues Freud’s explanation of the conscience allows no room for God to shape our morality?

A

•Newman
- He describes the conscience as the “messenger of God” and believes the conscience is not imposed upon us by society but rather the direct voice of God speaking to us

Ethics (8 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions